Hey, Peeps! I hope all is well. If you have the time/energy/inclination, pop in below and offer up a comment (25-words-or-less or a lengthy treatise) on how you are doing... 💞
It's been quiet, here on the blog and in my real life... and I realized I not only don't mind, but I am actually loving it. I shared a meme with someone the other day that said: "People who say 'go big or go home' seriously underestimate my willingness to go home. Like, it's literally my only goal." Or, in my case, it's *stay* home. The pandemic was the catalyst for me to channel my inner hermit, and I am feeling no desire to emerge from my cocoon, even now that it's safe to do so. I have never feared alone time; rather, I actually relish it, probably going back to the days of when the children were small, my husband was traveling, I read the last bedtime story, shared the last sips of water, tucked everyone in, and then... silence. Aaahhh!
I'm still ordering my groceries via Amazon (Whole Foods) and Instacart (Sprouts and Costco; continuing to boycott Publix!), Target is still the only store I have physically stepped foot in, still no live music opportunities (other than Dave's house concert a month or so ago). I'm still scheduling catch-up phone calls once or twice a week with various friends (although this last week got away from me). Inspired by the article on The Value of Letter Writing (below), I will toe-dip back into the world of actual penned correspondence soon... 😍
I did venture forth into the medical world last week to have a routine colonoscopy (it had been 11 years since my last one); there were not only *no* polyps, but my colon was declared "spic 'n span", and she said she'd see me in ten years (thankyoujesus).
I am not making as much progress as I'd like on my To Do (Ta Dah!) List, but I have been reading so many wonderful books (Brandi Carlile's memoir!), viewing some great British crime drama (thanks, Judi!), and cooking up so many delish dishes (the best curry I've ever put in my mouth!).
I am not making as much progress as I'd like on my To Do (Ta Dah!) List, but I have been reading so many wonderful books (Brandi Carlile's memoir!), viewing some great British crime drama (thanks, Judi!), and cooking up so many delish dishes (the best curry I've ever put in my mouth!).
I was sad to hear that singer, songwriter, slide guitarist Ellen McIlwaine died a few weeks ago. I discovered her in college (early-70s) and, in addition to her original work, was completely enamored with her cover of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home”. Wow!
The pandemic has changed me in many ways and, for the record, I like "The New Me": speaking up/pushing back more... a lower tolerance for things/people that don't bring me joy... feeling a greater need to live in/embrace the moment (probably spurred by the tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside)... trusting my intuition of self-worth and self-confidence... the continued pursuit of brain challenges (NYT mini-crossword puzzle and Spelling Bee, Jeopardy, reading like a motherf*cker)... taking much better care of myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually... all adding up to more awareness/mindfulness in every aspect of my life.
N(ow)R(eading): A long-distance friend and I began our own Party-of-Two book club a few months ago, taking turns choosing monthly selections. My pick for July/our third is The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, which was recently declared the 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction.
~ 50 Reasons to Love Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’: The singer-songwriter questioned everything on her fourth album. Twenty-five musicians speak about the LP’s enduring power on its 50th anniversary.
~ LeVar Burton’s Quest to Succeed Alex Trebek: If the right person catches the right project at the right time, the culture will always hold that person close. Do it three times, as LeVar Burton has done, and our relationship becomes something even deeper.
~ If You Give a Mom a Cookie: If you give a mom a cookie, she’ll ask whether you remembered to turn the oven off after you baked it.
~ Oliver Burkeman's last column: the eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life: After more than a decade of writing life-changing advice, I know when to move on. Here’s what else I learned
~ The Value of Letter Writing: There are so many different kinds of letters that I’ve written and received over the years. I remember running to the mailbox as a child and as a teenager, glancing quickly through the stack to find my name, immediately turning the envelope to identify the sender—a girlfriend, boyfriend, crush, or my twelve-years-older brother who often lived elsewhere—and then running to a quiet place where I could read and re-read my letter in private.
~ The Value of Letter Writing: There are so many different kinds of letters that I’ve written and received over the years. I remember running to the mailbox as a child and as a teenager, glancing quickly through the stack to find my name, immediately turning the envelope to identify the sender—a girlfriend, boyfriend, crush, or my twelve-years-older brother who often lived elsewhere—and then running to a quiet place where I could read and re-read my letter in private.
BOOK: Hatching the Cosmic Egg by Michael J Dorer, Andrew Kutt (Composer), Beth Wilson (Illustrator)
POEM: Born. Living. Will. Die. by Camonghne Felix
POEM: Born. Living. Will. Die. by Camonghne Felix
for my favorite auntie, Jeanette
Sometimes I think I’m never going to write a poem again
and then there’s a full moon.
I miss being in love but I miss
myself most when I’m gone.
In the salty wet air of my ancestry
my auntie peels a mango with her teeth
and I’m no longer
writing political poems; because there are
mangoes and my favorite memory is still alive.
I’m digging for meaning but haunted by purpose
and it’s an insufficient approach.
What’s the margin of loss on words not spent today?
I’m getting older. I’m buying smaller images to travel light.
I wake up, I light up, I tidy, and it’s all over now.
[Camonghne Felix: “This poem is an ode to my auntie, who is the freest person I know. In her garden in Antigua, she grows mangoes, which represent the sweetness of life and the serenity of self-sufficiency.”]
QUOTE: "If life's journey be endless, where is its goal? The answer is, it is everywhere. We are in a palace which has no end, but which we have reached. By exploring it and extending our relationship with it we are ever making it more and more our own. The infant is born in the same universe where lives the adult of ripe mind. But its position is not like a schoolboy who has yet to learn his alphabet, finding himself in a college class. The infant has it own joy of life because the world is not a mere road, but a home, of which it will have more and more as it grows up in wisdom. With our road that gain is at every step, for it is the road and the home in one; it leads us on yet gives us shelter." ~ Rabindranath Tagore
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